News — CraftAndCriticism

How To Tell Readers Who You Are Without Telling Them Who You Are

CraftAndCriticism Features NativeWriters OrlandoWhite UrsulaPike

How To Tell Readers Who You Are Without Telling Them Who You Are

When I began writing grants for nonprofits, I assumed success came from pulling at the heartstrings of a wealthy benefactor. I knew I could tell a story about striving, need, and (with your generous support) lives changed. The nonprofit I worked for helped people in East Austin to start businesses. You could call them small businesses, but the term we used was microenterprises. These businesses had only a few employees. Sometimes, it was one single person employing themselves: a mother of two who lost her job and decided to sell the cupcakes everyone asked for at birthday parties; a person...

Read more →


What to Make of Isaac Asimov, Sci-Fi Giant and Dirty Old Man?

CraftAndCriticism Creepers DirtyOldMen metoo Robot

What to Make of Isaac Asimov, Sci-Fi Giant and Dirty Old Man?

The Sensuous Dirty Old Man (1971) is credited to “Dr. A”… but “the secret is out,” admits a paperback edition, naming the author as Isaac Asimov, “undoubtedly the best writer in America” per the Mensa Bulletin. A response to a then-popular book called The Sensuous Woman, Asimov’s book instructs dirty old men on how to leer (“don’t peep at girls—STARE!”), make suggestive remarks (“What a magnificent dress… or am I merely judging by the contents?”), and fondle. The sensuous dirty old man has learned the fine art of the touch, that of making it so gentle and innocent that the...

Read more →